By Robert Abbott
Liability Limits: The Number on Your Policy That Matters Most Once Your Teen Drives
State minimums were set to make insurance affordable, not to cover a serious crash. With a new driver in the house, the gap is your problem.
Rules & Costs
What are the rules and costs?
Understand what the state requires, what driver’s ed covers, what insurance changes, and where legal minimums stop short of readiness.
By Robert Abbott
What a Crash Actually Costs: The Bill That Keeps Coming for Years
The repair is the smallest part. An at-fault crash can raise the premium by about half, for three to five years, on a policy that was already expensive.
By Robert Abbott
Who Pays? Teaching Your Teen What Driving Actually Costs
A car looks free from the driver's seat. Showing a teenager the real bill, and handing them a piece of it, changes how they think about the keys.
By Robert Abbott
Driving-Tracking Insurance for Teens: When It Helps and When It Backfires
An app that watches how your teen drives can cut the premium. It can also raise it, and it grades the driver you have, not the one you're building.
By Robert Abbott
Add Them to Your Policy, or Get Them Their Own?
A separate policy looks like a way to protect your rates. It almost always costs more, and it doesn't protect you the way you'd hope.
By Robert Abbott
Their First Ticket: What It Costs, What It Changes, and What to Do Next
A ticket during the first year can raise the insurance bill, extend license restrictions and, handled right, teach more than a lecture ever could.
By Robert Abbott
The First Fender Bender: What Your Teen Should Do, and What You Should Say
Most teens will have a minor crash. The call you get afterward, and how you handle it, shapes whether they call you next time.
By Robert Abbott
The First Car: What to Look For, What It Really Costs, and Where to Buy It
Teens are the riskiest drivers on the road, and they tend to end up in the least protective cars. You can fix most of that before you ever talk price.
By Robert Abbott
How to Choose a Driver’s Ed Course: Online, In Person, or Both
The certificate is the same either way. What you want to know is whether the course will fit your kid, your schedule and your state's rules.
By Robert Abbott
Is Driver’s Ed Enough? What It Does Well, and the Part That’s Still Yours
Driver's ed is one of the best tools you have. It's also a few dozen hours in a process that needs hundreds of decisions on real roads.
By Robert Abbott
What a Teen Driver Actually Costs — and Why Doing It Right Doesn't Lower the Bill
We did the work. I expected the insurance company to notice. Then I got to ask the people who actually set the prices.